SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Jan. 20, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Utah will receive $3-million-plus from the federal government to upgrade, repair or replace ailing electric vehicle charging ports.
The $3,384,149 will go to the Utah Department of Transportation to service 77 charging ports statewide, according to Thursday’s announcement by federal transportation officials.
The money is part of nearly $150 million awarded to 24 grant recipients in 20 states meant to make existing electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure more reliable. The grants will be used to repair or replace nearly 4,500 existing charging ports and in some cases, bring them up to code.
“The EV revolution is here,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “To make the most of it we must ensure that everyone, from the largest cities to the most rural communities, has access to reliable EV charging infrastructure,”
The largest recipient by far was the California Department of Transportation with $63.7 million for 1,302 charging ports.
Next was $13 million to New York’s transportation department for 335 ports. The smallest was $13,157.25 to the city of Imlay, Michigan, for two ports.
“Charging your electric vehicle should be as easy and convenient as filling up a gas tank – and these grants will help do that by making our EV charging network more reliable,” said Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt. “We’re building a bigger and better EV charging network to keep up with driver demand, and we’re also ensuring the existing network works when you need a charge.”
The targeted investments complement the tens of billions in federal and private sector funding that is building out a national EV charging network, officials said, and support jobs across the country installing, maintaining, and repairing EV infrastructure. This latest round of grants was called the latest milestone towards meeting President Joe Biden’s goal of bringing at least 500,000 public EV chargers online by the end of the decade.
“Under President Joe Biden, EV sales have quadrupled, and publicly available chargers are up by 70%,” the U.S. Department of Transportation said online. “Today’s investment will help us ensure our charging network keeps up with driver demand.”
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